Ida B. Wells
Ida B. Wells was dedicated to journalism and letting people know what is going on. With her journalism investigation instincts, she uses to identify what excuses the whites use to identify lynch campaign against blacks. In the following essay, I will explain what reasons for this vicious and sustained campaign of violence against African-Americans.
Ida B. Wells felt that the white should be considered as rapist more than blacks. One excuse that whites use to justify lynch campaigns were that blacks raped their women or wives, which in some cases were not true. For instance, on page 54, it explains that on January 16, 1982 a white woman of highest respectability accused an African American man of raping her. So, with Mrs. Underwood testimony, they placed the man in the penitentiary, not knowing that in a few years she would confess that he was innocent.
Their were many situations were if innocent or not were lynched to make a statement that whites were more dominant of the races. Another example, on page 101, "The entire system of the judiciary of this country is in the hands of white people. To this add the fact of the inherent prejudice against colored people, and it will be clearly seen that a white jury is certain to find a Negro prisoner guilty if there is the least evidence to warrant such a finding." Meredith Lewis was arrested, but not convicted of a charge. The mob had to make a point to follow Meredith Lewis and kidnap him and hanged by his neck for a murder which her was not convicted.
I feel that the white people felt that the blacks were getting to close to be like an equal. With that on mind, the whites felt that they need to show the blacks that they still run things. For instance, on page 107, it clearly states, "There are friends of humanity who feel their souls shrink from any compromise with murder, but whose deep and abiding reverence for womanhood causes them to hesitate in giving their support to this crusade against Lynch Law, out of fear that they may encourage the miscreants whose deeds are worse than murder." It goes on to explain blacks were lynched because the whites had the power to kill and get away with it and they prefer to kill, than taking it to court.
.guilty. . .guilty. . .guilty. . .” (211). By using only four guilty’s, Lee is able to demonstrate that the word of two white people has a greater effect than that of an African American even though the man who was put up for his life had not harmed, nor had he ever damaged anything he came into contact with.
Ida B. Wells was born into slavery, and lived in Holly Springs Mississippi. She was later freed, and learned from her parents what it meant to be a political activist. By 1891, Wells was the owner of the newspaper, Free Speech, and was reporting on the horrors that were occurring in the south. Wells, along with other people of the African American activist community were particularly horrified about the lynching’s that were occurring in the south. As a response to the lynching that was occurring, and other violent acts that the African American community was dealing with Wells wrote three pamphlets: Southern Horrors, The Red Record, and Mob Brutality. Muckraking and investigative journalism can be seen throughout these pamphlets, as well as Wells intent to persuade the African American community, and certain members of the white community to take a stand against the crime of lynching. Wells’ writings are an effective historical text, because she serves as a voice to an underrepresented African American community.
When it all comes down to it, one of the greatest intellectual battles U.S. history was the legendary disagreement between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. This intellectual debate sparked the interest of the Northerners as well as the racist whites that occupied the south. This debate was simply about how the blacks, who just gained freedom from slavery, should exist in America with the white majority. Even though Washington and DuBois stood on opposite sides of the fence they both agreed on one thing, that it was a time for a change in the treatment of African Americans. I chose his topic to write about because I strongly agree with both of the men’s ideas but there is some things about their views that I don’t agree with. Their ideas and views are the things that will be addressed in this essay.
The 14th amendment granted citizenship to all who were born in the United States and the 15th amendment prohibited the government from denying a citizen the right to vote based on race and color. The increase in the Black population caused jobs to become competitive, the advancement of Blacks made some become business owners and others obtained education. This caused the White Elites to have some concerns and to compete, which they weren’t too thrilled about. The lynching of Sam Hose and the display and consumption of his body caused W.E.B. Du Bois, and others, to realize that they were not cared for and that Blacks as a whole were merely nothing. There was no respect for the deceased and Blacks were treated more like animals than actual living beings. The author’s stated “He was startled by the festive capture and ghoulish torture that ended in castration and incineration, with strips of Hose 's liver cooked and sold for ten cents. The message to all blacks was that they, too, could be sexually mutilated, reduced to meat, and consumed-exorcised in cannibal meaning and act.” “733:22”. Du Bois couldn’t believe how they treated the dead man’s body. Newspapers didn’t try to calm down the rising tensions between Blacks and White and instead they added more fuel to the fire. They described accounts of Black men harassing and assaulting White women which caused an uproar in the White
Even though slaves had been free for almost sixty years, it was still hard to find well paying jobs in other areas nationwide. The lives of African Americans were so well established, the area was coined the “Black Wall Street of America”. You’d think with such well-rounded men and women that something like this would not happen just based on their skin tone, but that is far from true. Whites of the time were still extremely prejudice towards African Americans, despite the reputation they had. It was only a matter of time before something ignited the flame that had been burning for years.
He then goes on to state that on a chosen night, the people implement a planned mass killing of all the African-American folk, therefore solving all of their problems. The essay is able to show how effective racist language and ideas can be, as well as providing a good example of a writing style that keeps the reader engaged
killing of seventeen whites. These blacks were sought out as wrong to many whites, and
Wells, Ida B. Southern Horrors. Lynch Law in All Its Phase. New York: New York Age Print, 1892. Print. 6.
The Scottsboro Trial and the trial of Tom Robinson are almost identical in the forms of bias shown and the accusers that were persecuted. The bias is obvious and is shown throughout both cases, which took place in the same time period. Common parallels are seen through the time period that both trials have taken place in and those who were persecuted and why they were persecuted in the first place. The thought of "All blacks were liars, and all blacks are wrongdoers," was a major part of all of these trails. A white person's word was automatically the truth when it was held up to the credibility of someone whom was black. Both trials were perfect examples of how the people of Alabama were above the law and could do whatever they wanted to the black people and get away with it. In both trials lynch mobs were formed to threaten the black people who were accused. Judge Hornton tried many times to move the case to a different place so that a fair trial could take place and not be interrupted by the racist people. Finally was granted to move the case even though the lynch mobs threatened to kill everyone who was involved in the case if it were to be moved. In this essay the bias and racism in both trials are going to be clarified and compared to each other.
Ida Barnett Wells was born a slave on July 16, 1862 in Holly Springs, Mississippi. She was the oldest child of eight children for her parents. Approximately six months after Ida B. Wells was conceived, African American slaves were ordered to be free by the Union, thanks to the Emancipation Proclamation. However, since Ida Wells’ family resided in Mississippi, they still were facing racial prejudices and were confided by discriminatory rules and practices (pbs.org, 2002).
As the controversy developed, many started to say this was the wrong thing to do as the blacks were substandard compared to the whites. They likewise trusted that with the abolishment of slavery would come the revolt of the blacks against the French individuals.In the article it states, “if their intelligence is not of a different nature to our own, it is much inferior…. They come from the same part of Africa as elephants and monkeys” (Document 17, Pg.40). This quote demonstrates the whites view toward the minorities individuals. They trusted that they were not as smart as the white and contrasted these individuals with African creatures. This exhibits the whites saw them as boorish and uncivilized. They didn 't need the blacks to be given freedom as they were undeserving of these rights. The article also states, “If we just mention the word, that might be enough for them to demand the emancipation of our slaves. Our fear of this forces us reluctantly to keep silent” (Document 19, Pg. 43). By stating this, it demonstrates just how fearful the people were and they had the idea that the slaves would revolt with violence, which urged them to not want to abolish slavery. Later on in the article it states, “Blood will flow, our property will be invaded, the fruits of our labor destroyed, and our homes burned. Our neighbors, our friends, our wives
Wells was a fearless anti-lynching crusader, women’s rights advocate, journalist, and speaker. After her parents passed away she became a teacher and received a job to teach at a nearby school. With this job she was able to support the needs of her siblings. In 1844 in Memphis, Tennessee, she was asked by the conductor of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Company to give up her seat on the train to a white man. Wells refused, but was forcefully removed from the train and all the white passengers applauded. Wells was angered by this and sued the company and won her case in the local courts; the local court appealed to the Supreme Court of Tennessee. The Supreme Court reversed the court’s ruling. In Chicago, she helped to develop numerous African American women and reform organizations. Wells still remained hard-working in her anti-lynching crusade by ...
Ida B. Wells (1862-1931) was a newspaper editor and journalist who went on to lead the American anti-lynching crusade. Working closely with both African-American community leaders and American suffragists, Wells worked to raise gender issues within the "Race Question" and race issues within the "Woman Question." Wells was born the daughter of slaves in Holly Springs, Mississippi, on July 16, 1862. During Reconstruction, she was educated at a Missouri Freedman's School, Rust University, and began teaching school at the age of fourteen. In 1884, she moved to Memphis, Tennessee, where she continued to teach while attending Fisk University during summer sessions. In Tennessee, especially, she was appalled at the poor treatment she and other African-Americans received. After she was forcibly removed from her seat for refusing to move to a "colored car" on the Chesapeake & Ohio Railroad, the Tennessee Supreme Court rejected her suit against the railroad for violating her civil rights in 1877. This event and the legal struggle that followed it, however, encouraged Wells to continue to oppose racial injustice toward African-Americans. She took up journalism in addition to school teaching, and in 1891, after she had written several newspaper articles critical of the educational opportunities afforded African-American students, her teaching contract was not renewed. Effectively barred from teaching, she invested her savings in a part-inte...
...any whites could have believed so strongly that blacks were inferior to them, so mediocre that they would treat them like animals and murder them in cold blood. But this is a problem that still occurs today, though in a lesser form, and it is important to study our past in effort to keep from repeating the mistakes of our ancestors. By reading things such as Anne Moody’s autobiography, we can get an inside view into what really took place in the South, and we can be inspired by people like Moody who stood up to it. The negativities of racism against blacks taught us important lessons about ethics and how humans should treat each other because we can see the effects it had on people less than 50 years ago. And if we learn from the mistakes of our ancestors and move away from their supremacist ideals, then as the freedom song in Coming of Age goes, “we shall overcome.”